the giant drug maker plans to cut about 20% of its u.s. sales force, or 600 jobs. according to a report from bloomberg, the cuts begin this month and are said to be part of c.e.o. ian read's strategy to reposition pfizer after losing patent protection on its top selling drug, lipitor. at its peak, that cholesterol drug generated revenues of nearly $10 billion a year for pfizer. while lipitor's loss was tough for pfizer, it was a boon for generic drug makers. but in the coming year, far fewer brand-name drugs will come off patent. and as ruben ramirez reports, generic drug makers have been preparing for the slowdown. >> reporter: 2012 has been a boon for generic drug makers as 40 brand name drugs lost their patent protection, opening the door to what amounted to around $35 billion in sales. 2013 will be a different story, with only about half as many drugs scheduled to lose their patent protections. lipitor, pfizer's blockbuster cholesterol drug, was the biggest seller to lose patent protection this year. >> there are still individual product opportunities in 2013,